shadows don't lie

Chapter Twenty-Four

Inei cursed under her breath as she tripped over yet another rock. She swore that they kept appearing directly in front of her, especially since Azriel moved forward with little difficulty.

Az paused and waited for her to catch up, a smile playing across his lips at her fumbling. “You know that you have your shadows to help guide you right?” He asked her, and she could hear the laughter behind his words.

“You aren’t.”

He rolled his eyes and continued onwards. “I’ve also been through here enough to know where to step.”

She grumbled incoherently.

When she had asked to be taken on more missions, she wasn’t expecting to be dragged out of bed at ungodly hours just to go on a hike in the dark.

“Where are we going anyways?” She prodded with her shadows, trying to watch where Az would step even though his massive wings blotted out most of the light.

“I already told you, we need to meet with one of my spies, and let him know to keep his eye out in case anything happens.”

Right, because some shockwave had exploded out from the death-lord’s mansion, and only the Mother knew why.

“Why didn’t we just write him a letter?” Azriel chuckled and he stepped to the side, revealing a small clearing with an even smaller hut in the center of it. “Because you wanted to go on a mission.”

A male stood up against the wall of the hut and he raised his head warily as he sensed them approach. Once he realized it was Azriel though, he stepped out into the dim light of the moon, his mousy-brown hair turning pale and casting dramatic shadows across his face.

“Any more news from the others?” The male asked, his voice laced with something undecipherable as he cast a glance over to Inei. Az shook his head and motioned over his shoulder at her.

“Meet Inei. She’s been.. Helping me out for the past few months.”

She scoffed at him but he just continued on, “Inei, this is Hale, one of my commanders. He’s been in charge of the mortal lands and keeping watch for anything important.”

“Speaking of which,” Hale cut in, his lithe figure shifting almost imperceptibly. “There are some odd rumors floating around the continent that there’s a mixed group running around with a male known as ‘Oneiri’ as their leader. He’s supposedly met with the queens, and if the rumors are anything to go by, he’s planning something big.”

Azriel frowned and crossed his arms. “Is he fae? Human? And have you looked into the rumors to figure out if they’re credible?”

Hale scowled. “Of course. The thing is that anytime we try to learn anything, all leads shut down. We can’t even figure out where they originated from.”

Azriel was quiet for a long minute, staring at the ground as he thought, and Inei rolled her neck, summoning up her shadows that she had suppressed until now.

Hale’s gaze widened in shock, and he even took a step back.

“Would it maybe help to have one of us look into it?” She asked sweetly, and Hale nodded, smoothing over his expressions. “It would help, yes.”

Inei looked over at Az who now watched her amusedly, and his shadow nudged her approvingly.

“Okay, so where did your investigations leave you last?”

----

Azriel held Inei tightly as he dropped into midair, his shadows receding back to him in the light.